US Nationals wrap up

The last race of the week was the most important of the season for myself. The Time Trial represented the qualifier for the World Championship team. The Road Race title was a nice result two days prior but the week would be a failure if I didn't show up and put in a solid time on the Time Trial course.

During warm ups I tangled up with a teammate and hit the deck rather hard. I landed on my weak side, immediately my leg went numb and I was worried that I wouldn't even be able to start the race. At that point there was about twenty minutes to shake off the trauma and get the bike back to working properly. At the start line there was a welt growing but the mind was calm and the routine of racing brought me some peace of mind.

In the first few Kilometers I knew that my legs weren't firing so the race quickly became a show of will power. Several times the question of how bad I wanted to win was answered by a renewed focus to grit it out. Towards the end of the race I was in rough shape. My eyes were closing, legs were screaming and a part of my mind was asking why I even do this sport.

The results came back with good news. A silver medal at the 2010 US National Championships and a spot on the World Championship team.

This past month yielded a Road Race National Title, A Sliver Medal in the Time Trail as well as a podium position at the UCI Para-Cycling World Cup held in Spain a few ago.

A medal of every color. Not too shabby.

Up next, US Track National Championships in Colorado Springs at the end of July.

US Nationals

I'm coming off a podium position at the Para-Cycling World Cup with a fistful of confidence. This week being US Nationals I'm thrilled of how I raced in Spain and how my form is coming into this event.

This week has three National titles up for grabs. Road Race, Crit and Time Trial titles. Yesterday I raced in the Road Race within the C1-3 Classification. The new structuring of the Paralympic Classifications has benefited me compared to the last several years where I was racing athletes that were far less impaired than myself.

The race was shortened to 40 km. Far shorter than the usually 65 km. The race began slowly with people trying to conserve energy for the upcoming Time Trial. Halfway through I began to make a few jumps to see where I stood within the group. I felt strong with how my legs were and how the group responded. With 2 laps to go I made a counter attack which cut the group to just myself and another rider. We worked together until the last lap. I attacked on the final climb with full intention. This made the split I was looking for and I rolled in at a TT pace to Claim my first ever road Title and three National Title of my career!

Up next is the Crit and on thursday is the Time Trial/Worlds Team Qualifier.

Road Race

The Road Race is always a crap shoot but the one thing that is required is great fitness, the ability to handle repeated near max efforts and dig deep and suffer like a dog.
I will say that I suffered like a dog. From the first meter to the last it was full gas. The Spainish had 5 riders which made up the biggest team at the start line. In truth even though 34 riders rolled up to the start only 13 were within my disability class. We all race together but the scoring is broken down within the different claases. To be able to descriminate the riders in each class, each class wore a different colored helmet.
The Spainish jumped off the gun hoping to break up the race immediately. They successed easily. I made the front selection but only for a lap. Going over several climb I lost contact due to lack of power and a poor line around a tight bend.
I was forced to chase solo for a lap. During my Time Trial lap, I had an ex Tour De france Stage Winner in front of me chasing solo as well. I was close 50 meters but never found his wheel. I joined a chase group that were rolling up on me.
I finished with the chase group ending up 12th overall and 6th in my class.
I spun home from the course alone thinking about how I was shelled so quickly and pondering what needs to happen to have the juice to stay with the big guns.
Nothing came to mind except to train like a madman once I get back home.

waiting to go fast

This year started slowly compared to previous ones. For one I struggled with motivation and then balancing a busy workload with my training. But as Spring brings life to all things so it with my desire to be fast. Month after month, I slowly ramped up my efforts and fine tuned my body into a vehicle to move forward. With each month that passed my body reached greater heights of fitness and speed. Each day is a puzzle to piece together the time to work, train and even spend some time with my wife. Rarely does my daily life involve inactive peaceful moments.
I;m now in a hotel room in Central Spain at an event that I've trained all year for and I'm stuck waiting to go fast. My coach tells me and I know it as fact, that sitting around watching euro sport is just the thing that will make me that % faster.
For a lifestyle that is always in motion the change of speed is trying.
Winning will blur the days of laying in this bed real quick. I hope to be in a blur tomorrow evening.

Impressions of Spain

My team and I are staying the Spainish Village of Sergovia. The selling point of the village is a true Roman Acuaduct that was built in the last 1st century. Impressive in person but even more so when you know the history. The orginal town square and it´s church is again a trip back in history.
I haven´t been outside except for a few spins on the bike. Yesterday, we rode the Road Race course and left with the impression that I´m going to have to be on my game in order to fight for a high placing. The course offers wind, hills, tight euro village roads that will bring about an aggressive race.
These past few days have allowed me the time to rest which is something I rarely have back home. Yes, I can say that I´m bored but in a way it´s a nice change. I sit around watching eurosport and chatting with the other athletes. It´s always fun to see the athletes. We talk about previous travels and theorize the upcoming races.
Later today I´ll be seeing the rest of my team show up and then Team USA will be complete. I race friday and again on Sunday.

Prepping and packing for World Cup #1

The First Paralympic World Cup is scheduled for next week outside of Madrid Spain. A world Cup series is new to Para-Cycling. This marks another step foward for a sport that is evolving by leaps and bounds each year. These World Cup races along the World Championships and smaller international events offer myself and my team more oppurtunities to race with the best cyclists in the World.
Even though this is my first Paralympic Race of the year I have been racing regionally for the past several months. The benefit of living in Colorado Springs is that I can go head to head with some of the nations best on a weekly if not daily basis. I often will link up with another cyclist or tiathlete from the Olympic Center who can push me that much further. As many of you know, training is a science of fine tuning you body to be at your absolute fastest at the times it's needed. I work with my long time coach - CTS Coach Tom Murphy - to ramp up my training from endurance building in the winter and spring to a higher degree of intensity that will be needed in races like the one I'll be at next week. Tom has been with me since 2004 and over that length of time he has learned how I respond to different training stratagies. Our relationship has resulted in a training program that is specific to my physical skills. I must say that Tom is the one that has taken me from a local bike racer to being ranked 5th in the world and 2 National Titles.
The days leading up to an oversees trip is always choatic. Balancing work responsibilities and squeezing in crucial last minute workouts can be extremely tiring. Part of training is resting. To make sure that I rest properly and get my other things done is tough. These last few days will include packing two bikes, race wheels, clothing and other needed bike equipment and trying to spend a few minutes with my wife before I leave her for a week.
It may sound like alot and overwhelming at times. Yes, that's true but the thrill of racing and the honor of representing our country in sport is worth all of the stress and demands.
I'll be racing in 3 events while in spain. The races start on the 11th and finish up on the 13th. Two will be road races and the one will be an individual time trial. I expect to be in the mix and fighting for a podium position.

Thanks for reading.
- Mike

Know your opponents!

This past week the the UCI posted on their the website www.uci.ch
the current classification list for all current Para-Cyclist.
Lots of people ask me to explain this, so here's a quick run down.

Each athlete is examined by an international panel of Doctors. The examination is
to place each rider in a classification with athletes with similair physical limitations.

In the 2009 every cyclist completing at an international level was reclassed using a different formula. The focus was to identify one's functionality on the bike instead of going off of a more medical based exam.

So with all that said, I was classed as a C-3. I looked at the other riders in this new class. I know a handleful of them already. It will again be very difficult to stand on a podium this season. But I do have the results to rival anyone in the my class.

status report for jan. 2010

the riding standards do drop to some degree when training in January.
If the start temp in around 30 with the hope of adding a few degrees then I suit up.
Suiting up requires multiple layers, booties, hat, gloves and sometimes hot tea in the bottles instead of cold water.
I ride through snow both on the grounds and swirling in the air. Training in this weather is difficult but needed when you figure that most of my training done in the winter is on a trainer.
I aim to be outdoors for both my weekend training rides. The other days I split time using the compu-trainers at both the Olympic Center and the new Endurance Club at Carmichael Training Systems main office. Both offer an enviornment's that motivate me to keep riding.
With it only being the first day of February I'm focused on regaining my aerobic engine. And that takes time on the bike. Throughout the week I have various efforts and intervals to complete but to regain that base fitness takes miles.
The biggest change in my training will come with the changing of day light savings. My week day rides will start to miove outside and at that point I'll include more intensity and race specific training.
But for now - you may see my sweating my arse off at CTS/OTC or bundled up on some deserted mountain rode.

I've been checking out the international race schedule to see not only where I'll be racing but also to get an idea as to what my opposition will be racing. This years calender appears to offer a nice range of events.
Between international races, I'll be racing regionally from my home in Colorado Springs.
2010 UCI Para-cycling Calendar

11 - 15.3 EHC - Al-Ain Al-Ain UAE
3.4 EHC - Rosenau Rosenau France FRA
30.4 - 2.5 Défi sportif - Route Montréal CAN P1
30.4 - 2.5 Paracycling Bizkaiko Bira - Road Bilbao-Bizkaia ESP P1
7 - 9.5 Challenge International Handisport de Cyclisme - Route Pyrénées Atlantiques FRA P1
13 - 16.5 Tour of Belgium for B&VI Gedinne - Hulshout - Overpelt - Beauraing - Essen BEL P2
15.5 EHC - Schenkon Schenkon SUI P1
22 - 24.5 UCI World Cup - Paracyclisme route Ville de Correze en Corrèze FRA CDM
29 - 30.5 Piacenza Paracycling Piacenza ITA P1
5 - 6.6 Radsporttage Gippingen - Road Gippingen SUI P1
11 - 13.6 UCI World Cup - Paracyclisme route Cantimpalos, Segovia ESP CDM
19 - 20.6 Para-Cycling-Europacup Elzach GER P1
25 - 26.6 EHC - Grafendorf Gradfendorf bei Hartberg AUT P1
26 - 27.6 Championnat d'Afrique UCI de Paracyclisme Ouagadougou BUR P1
2 - 4.7 UCI World Cup - Paracyclisme route Baie-Comeau CAN CDM
17 - 18.7 Para-cycling Event - Road Vratna SVK P1

7.8 Meeting Internacional Banco do Brasil de Ciclismo Paraolímpico Rio de Janeiro BRA P1
12 - 22.8 UCI Para-cycling World Championship / Championnat du monde paracyclisme UCI Cali COL CM
21 - 22.8 EHC - Kent Kent GBR P1
18 - 19.9 Final EHC 2010 Colmar-Berg LUX P1
25.9 Para-cycling European Cup Prague Prague - Strahov CZE P1
26 - 27.9 Open Championship Serbia Belgrade SRB P1
15 - 16.10 Europa Cup Büttgen Sixdaynight Kaarst GER P1

US National Championships (Road,track) - TBA

UCI Para-Cycling World Ranking:
Individual Rank Name Nation Age* Points
1 (1) Jirí BOUŠKA Czech Republic 30 125
2 (-) Michele PITTACOLO Italy 39 120
3 (3) Klaus LUNGERSHAUSEN Germany 41 103
4 (2) Luboš JIRKA Czech Republic 38 103
5 (8) Michel ALCAINE France 44 97
5 (8) César NEIRA PÉREZ Spain 30 97
7 (-) Michael FARRELL United States 32 44
8 (5) Sebastian HESSE Germany 35 34
9 (-) Shaun MCKEOWN Great Britain 29 32
10 (-) Masashi ISHII Japan 37 24
11 (4) Antonín HÁJEK Czech Republic 20 21
12 (-) Craig VOGTSBERGER United States 35 16
13 (6) Boris BOOMBAERTS Belgium 30 16
14 (7) Sébastien BOUCHARD Canada 30 15
15 (8) Alfred SABORIT Spain 23 13
16 (-) Erick Richter KAPP South Africa 32 12
17 (11) Pascal VANDAELE France 49 11
17 (11) Ivo KOBLASA Czech Republic 16 11
19 (13) Jan SEDLÁK Czech Republic 17 9
20 (14) Matej BENDA Czech Republic 16 8

These guys are who I battle agienst all over the planet.

new year - new focus - new goals

Happy new years to you all.
This fall and holiday season has been anything but the typical disiplined life of a cyclist. I took a step back to relax and to regain some prespective and renew my passion before the shite hits.
My wife (Pamela) and I traveled a little and set out to do some home remodeling. Now I know when you think the project may be completed in two weeks, it is never two weeks. Taking the step away from the bike this fall allowed me to see bored I can become without a bike attached to me.
So I look to 2010 with a renewed excitement and a more clear intent on what my goals will be. The Para-Cycling race season has changed drastically which is a positive for the sport and will provide more oppurtunities to race in both Europe but also in "the America's"
During the 2009 World Championships in Italy, I was reexamined by the UCI-ICP medical panel and the result was that I was reassigned to race in another classification. Hopefully one that give me a better chance to win races.
With the change in classes and the expanded race schedule I'm looking forward to the 2010 race season.
In 2007, I won two National Titles on the velodrome. Since then my coach and I have focused on the road events in an attempt to complete internationally. With the new classification, the focus may return to track racing. After looking at previous years results and scanning over my results it seems that the track may offer some podium potential.
The race schedule includes 3 world Cup races, international events in Europe and Canada with the season ending World Championship held again in Cali Colombia.
On top of that I'll be racing for a third National Title.
I have high hopes for the upcoming season. World Cup wins, National and World Titles to be had. But first - suffering on the bike.